Fire escape



B. GILOWITZ Feb. 4 1936.

FIRE ESCAPE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Sept. 15, 1934 Moz- Patented Feb. 4, 1936 FIRE ESCAPE Benjamin Gilowitz, New York, N. Y., assignor of one-fourth to William Joseph, New York, N. Y. 7

Application September 13, 1934, Serial No. 743,889

1 Claim.

The invention relates to a new and improved structure designed primarily for use as a fire escape, though not restricted to this particular use. A car is provided for movement along vertical guiding means to lower the occupants of a building to safety, and the object of the inventionis to provide improved means for utilizing the weight of a quantity of water to raise the car and for discharging this water after the car has ascended, allowing it to descend by gravity, checked of course, by suitable brake means. 7

With the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, description being accomplished by reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. l is a side elevation.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the watercontaining weight and its valve.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the water tank and its valve.

In the drawings above briefly described, '15 denotes a platform having guides 89 which slidably engage two vertical track rods 8!. Counterbalancing cables 82 and a weight 83 are provided for the platform '15, said weight being normally somewhat lighter than said platform so that the latter will lower itself to the floor required when the latch 35 is released from engagement with the fixed shouldered bar 85.

Guide tracks are provided for the weight 83, each of these guide tracks preferably consisting of two vertical angle irons 86 suitably anchored to the ground, sidewalk or the like at their lower ends, as denoted at Bl and provided at their upper ends with a crown structure 88 which is suitably'secured to the building. Near the upper ends of these angle irons 86, are two brackets 95! carrying sheaves 89 for the cables 82, the weight 83 being preferably provided with lateral arms 9! to which said cables are secured, said arms being slidably received between the bars 85. The foremost of these bars 36 carry rigid brackets 92 to which the rods 8i are suitably secured.

A foot pedal 93 is provided for releasing the bolt 84 when the loaded platform is to descend. In order that the platform however, may be lowered from a partly raised position to any floor at which it may be needed, pull cables 94 I depend from said platform for releasing the bolt 85, said pull cables being connected with the pedal t3 and trained over appropriate guides, sheaves or the like 95.

' A brake 96 is provided to control the descent of the loaded platform.

The weight 83 is hollow and open at its upper end, and provision is made for filling this weight with water when it reaches the limit of its ascent, and for discharging its water when it reaches the limit of its descent. In the present showing, a water tank 9i mounted between the upper ends of the two pairs of bars 36, is supplied with Water through a pipe 98 from a domestic or city water system, the bottom of said tank being provided with a water discharge valve 99 having two stems Hid which project downwardly beyond the tank and are equipped with weights Illl. In the hollow weight 83 and spaced downwardly from its upper end, are perforated abutment plates I02. Each time these abutment plates strike the weights llll, they lift the valve 99, allowing said weight 83 to fill with water so that it will descend and raise the platform after the latter has been unloaded. When this weight is being filled, it is in very close relation with the bottom of the tank 91 so that all water discharged from said tank will enter said weight instead of discharging partially to the exterior thereof. The bottom of the weight 83 is provided with a water discharge valve 503 having downwardly projecting stems I04 provide-d with weights I05. When the weight 83 reaches the limit of its descent, the weights I05 strike the ground or some other relatively stationary means, so that the stems I04 open the valve 103 and the water within the Weight discharges. The weight is thus made slightly lighter than the platform 15 so that as soon as the bolt 86 is released by a pull on one of the cables 94, said platform will descend, and it may be checked at the desired floor by releasing the cable 94 just before said platform reaches said floor.

Numerous details herein disclosed are for illustrative purposes only and numerous variations may be made within the scope of the invention as claimed, and obviously while the invention has been described and claimed as a fire escape, it is not restricted to this particular field of use but may be employed for other purposes.

I claim:

In a car ascent and descent controlling means, a hollow weight and means for connecting it with the car to ascend when the car descends and vice versa, said hollow weight having an open upper end and an internal abutment spaced downwardly from said upper end, a self-closing valve at the upper end of the weight path for discharging water into said weight when it reaches the limit of its ascent, said valve having a downwardly projecting operating portion receivable in said open upper end of said weight and positioned to be struck and raised by said abutment to open said valve, and means for emptying the water from said weight when it reaches the limit of its descent.

BENJAMIN GILOWITZ. 

